The last 6th session of the OGT 2024 International Oil and Gas Conference in Ashgabat considered environmental aspects in the extraction of hydrocarbon resources.
Turkmenistan, which has huge reserves of hydrocarbons, strives to minimize the environmental impact during oil and gas operations. Turkmen specialists have achieved a significant reduction in emissions in the Darvaza crater through the introduction of modern methods of gas production management. According to Capterio’s research, the volume of natural gas emissions has decreased significantly this year.
The session reviewed emission reduction strategies and technologies, best practices in sustainable resource management, environmentally friendly practices, and demonstrated Turkmenistan’s commitment to sustainable development and global environmental goals.
The speakers of the session covered the following topics:
Aykhan Aykhanov, Head of Management of Oil and Gas Resources and Implementation of the Digital Technologies Division of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, made a key presentation. He noted that Turkmenistan is fully engaged in the global climate agenda and strives to consistently implement the commitments made within the framework of the Global Methane Pledge. The speaker recalled that an interdepartmental commission has been established in the country in order to strengthen control and evaluate the effectiveness of the work carried out in various sectors of the economy in the field of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. At the same time, a number of projects aimed at assessing the impact of methane emissions were implemented, as well as technical and economic recommendations for their elimination were proposed within the framework of a regional initiative of UNEP, USAID Energy-Central Asia. Today, the world is in a phase of energy transition, but the development of renewable sources is closely linked to the climate agenda. The available data shows that the world is not going to completely abandon fossil fuels. Gas and coal continue to maintain record levels of consumption in the world. Gas accounts for about 20% of the world’s energy balance.
Makhtumkuli Akmuradov, Advisor on Environmental and Water Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Turkmenistan plans to publish the third national report on climate change in December 2024. The report will present data on greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In 2022, Turkmenistan has prepared a new nationally determined contribution (NDC) in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. The next NDC will be prepared in 2025. Turkmenistan has presented ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Turkmenistan has submitted to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The speaker also told about the project to create a Regional center for technologies related to climate change. The center’s goal is to develop and implement a technology transfer mechanism to mitigate the effects of climate change and achieve sustainable economic development in Central Asian countries. The Center will be based on a non-profit basis and involves a phased transition to self-financing. The financing of the first three years of the center’s operation will be provided by the Government of Turkmenistan.
Bayrammyrat Pirniyazov, Director of the Scientific Research Institute of Natural Gas at Turkmengaz, highlighted ways to solve the problem of emissions associated with the burning of Chaljulba crater (known as Darvaza crater). One solution is to drill another well, which will allow gas extraction, control the filtration flow and reduce uncontrolled emissions into the atmosphere. The effectiveness of the proposed measures was confirmed by the surveys of Capterio satellites, which clearly demonstrate a significant reduction of gas burning by more than half from September to February 2024. That is, an increase in the volume of gas production at Chaljulba leads to a reduction in the level of combustion in winter.
Manfredi Caltagirone, Head of the International Methane Observatory, stressed that Reducing methane emissions is the single fastest way to tackle climate change in the short-term and move towards a net-zero world. Methane reductions are critical in any decarbonization scenario and offer significant co-benefits for public health, economic livelihoods and energy security. He said that hundreds of sources of methane emissions have been recorded in Central Asia according to satellite images. Turkmenistan is actively cooperating with IMEO in efforts to reduce emissions. In particular, UNEP’s IMEO designed a joint programme, Ied by UNOPS and in collaboration with UNECE, the UN Resident Coordinator and the government of Turkmenistan. The joint programme focuses on enhanced methane emissions reduction policies, regulations, and enforcement in the oil and gas sector, as well as increased access to international finance. The energy sector has the greatest potential for near-term, cost-effective emissions reduction.
Mark Davis, CEO of the UK-based emissions monitoring company Capterio, introduced the Capterio FlareIntel technology platform, which tracks every leak at every facility around the world using independent high-resolution high-frequency satellites. In Turkmenistan, there is a large potential opportunity to capture additional gas, create value, improve energy security and accelerate the energy transition, the speaker noted. According to Capetrio’s analysis, reducing methane emissions will add another 9 billion cu m per year to Turkmenistan’s total gas production, bringing this figure to 85.3 billion cubic meters. This is an additional profit of $1.4 billion.
Antoine Halff, Chief Analyst and Co-founder of Kayrros (a leading environmental intelligence company), spoke about the findings of the interim report on the implementation of the Global Methane Pledge, which was launched three years ago in Glasgow. This was the first major attempt to deal with the extremely powerful greenhouse gas, which is estimated to be responsible for 30% of global warming today. The company measured annual methane emissions from 13 large fossil fuel basins located in nine major producing countries, including six GMP signatory countries – North America (USA), the Middle East region (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Algeria), Central Asia (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), sub–Saharan Africa (South Africa) and Australia. The cumulative methane emissions from the selected countries continue to grow, not decrease. Most fossil fuel producers have significantly increased methane emissions compared to the 2020 level (base year). Two countries have surpassed others in reducing emissions: Australia and Turkmenistan. Both countries joined GMP in 2023. Australia’s emissions from the Bowen Basin, a major coal mining region, have decreased by 27%. The reduction of methane emissions in Turkmenistan was 10% in 2023 compared to 2020, and emissions are now expected to decrease sharply as a result of new commitments and policy measures.
Egor Zbrodko, Energy Sector Specialist, told about USAID’s Power Central Asia Activity’s technical assistance to Turkmenistan on methane abatement told . The gas flaring is mostly attributed to associated gas from oil production and the total annual volume of gas disposed of by these flares is estimated to be around 1 billion cu meters. In 2023, International Energy Agency reports emissions by Turkmenistan of almost 4.7 thousand kilotons. Of this amount, the Agency says that 77% reduction is technically achievable, and 55% reduction will be achieved at no net cost. The mitigation solutions may include earlier replaces of equipment, installation of emission control and leak detection equipment.
Clayton Nash, Director for strategic development at the American company Tegre, stressed the need to prioritize actions to achieve zero emissions. He called on oil and gas companies to take a more balanced approach to reducing emissions. In his opinion, instead of large-scale and often unrealistic projects, companies should focus on small but consistent steps. Nash suggested that companies analyze in detail every stage of their activities – in upstream, midstream, and downstream.
Agshin Yousifzada, COP29 Coordinator for Sustainable Development, announced the key initiatives of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). Among them: the Climate Finance Fund, the Baku initiative for Investment and Trade, the commitment to create “green” zones and corridors, as well as the socially oriented program “Baku Harmony” for farmers. ///nCa, 25 October 2024